Project Quality Management Essay: Global Publishing Case Study

Question 1

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"True evaluation of a project is only available after the project has finished" - I am of the opinion that this statement is wrong. According to the Module 13 on Project Quality Management, evaluation of a project involves independent investigations and reviews. It is also stated that quality control should be performed while the project is going on as the cost of preventing mistakes is usually much less than the cost of correcting them. When performing a quality control, the following tools and techniques are used: inspection, control charts, Pareto diagrams, statistical sampling, flowcharting, trend analysis. .In the case of Global Publishing, the eBook project had flaws from the very beginning. The cause for this was that the types of books ordered were different and this required proper understanding and documenting the standard requirements for each type.. In this case the Quality Assurance Manager could have monitored the process and checked the product against the requirements to ensure they had been met.

Question 2

Customized eBooks have different production steps, different content and reprint approvals required, and different layouts and cover designs. Some were just collections of articles to reproduce once approvals were received, and others required extensive desktop publishing. EBooks were customized for every course and professor each semester (Global Publishing Case Study).

Question 3

The stakeholders of the eBooks project were the the management of Global Publishing, employees of Global Publishing, college management, professors, and students. The management of Global Publishing had to ensure quality of the product and proper timing. They were, therefore responsible for customer satisfaction in that project.However, eventually, the contractor failed to meet the needs of the customer as, in some cases, the books were several weeks late.

Question 4

The project scope is an essential input to quality planning since it documents major project deliverables as well as objectives that serve to define relevant stakeholder requirements (Module 13). The scope would have ensured better operation of eBooks production if Global Publishing and the college came to an agreement on the scope. The problem with the order that came from the college was that some orders arrived later than anticipated, and some jobs were much larger than Global Publishing had thought they would be, and the timing was different for each book. If there was a plan of works, supervisors would not have struggled with assigning the right employees to each task and the work would have been finished on time. It is important to make sure there is agreement about the scope and what will be done in producing each eBook because it would be crucial in organizing processes and giving adequate timing in each of the following phases: Receive Order phase, Plan Order phase, Production phase, Manage Production phase.

Question 5

In the Manage Production phase supervisors need to have information provided in the Receive Order phase as details of the order are important in applying corrections, costing and timing of the order. The supervisors should also have information on the plan of the order, as it involves materials used and will help the supervisor in estimating the cost of each eBook.

Question 6

Developing a standard job template would be useful for Global Publishing as the shift supervisor were often having problems knowing what tasks needed to be completed and assigning the right employees to each task. The template would list all of the possible tasks for producing an eBook. Thus, the orders would also be processed in an organized manner and be in records; therefore work timing would be achieved.

Question 7

According to the explanation on levels of quality required; the primary target is to establish a quality management system to ensure quality production to achieve the expected quality levels. In my opinion, the first experience will produce a better output as it involves a proper action plan before quality control. This ensures that in meeting the expected standards of quality, real life situations are taken into consideration. The difference between the two methods on finding out expected levels of quality is that the first method involves putting the plan into action while the second requires assurance before quality control.

Works Cited

MGMT 342 Module 13- Quality

Case Study Global Publishing